Automotive electrical distribution centers are generally known for packaging such electrical elements as fuses and relays and providing for electrical bussing in a single block, providing for cost and reliability benefits. Such electrical centers have been proposed using routed wire plates in the form disclosed in copending U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,135, assigned to the assignee of this application, in which electrical busses comprising links of electrically conductive wire are selectively routed through passages in standard insulator plates, for flexible electrical bussing in a standard environment. The wire routing through the standard insulator plates may be readily adapted to accommodate a wide variety of applications having varying electrical element layouts.
However, the elements of electrical centers including the insulator plates, housings, connectors, connector sockets, and the routed wire electrical bussing cannot readily be adapted to accommodate applications involving electrical elements having substantially non-conforming electrical terminal "footprints" or, in other words, substantially non-conforming terminal widths, spacings, and orientations. Accordingly, the scope of application of the components of a standard routed wire electrical center is limited to those applications involving electrical elements having a substantially common electrical terminal footprint. It is recognized that a significant range of electrical center applications include electrical elements having non-standard terminal footprints. It would be desirable to adapt electrical centers, especially of the routed wire type, to accommodate the terminal footprints of such applications so that they may be readily used with a maximum complement of standard electrical center components, such as standard housings, connectors, connector sockets, insulator plates, and routed wire electrical bussing elements, to reduce cost and design lead time.